listen

The two sections in this gospel – the prayer of Jesus and the reminder that when we seek we shall find, and that our knock and will open the door – each is a comforting promise of God’s personal gift of friendship. So I’d like to share with you a story of friendship – imaginary but nonetheless one that I trust will touch your heart.

TALE of TWO HORSES

[Author unknown – adapted]

If you listen for my bell, I promise I will listen for yours

Just down the road from our monastery is a field with two horses in it. From a distance, each looks like any other horse. But, if you stop your car, or are working or walking nearby, you will notice something quite amazing. Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing.

When you are nearby, and you are really listening, you will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to her halter is a small bell. It lets her blind friend know where she is, so he can follow her.

As you stand and watch these two friends, you’ll see how she is always checking on him, and that he will listen for her bell and then slowly walk toward where she is, trusting that she will not lead him astray. When she returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, she stops occasionally and looks back, making sure her friend isn’t too far behind to hear the bell.

Like the owner of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges. God watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need. Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others see.

Good friends are like this … You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there.

This is an interesting reading, and even a bit odd, giving us another insight into Jesus’ teaching methods. First with those who are closest to him – who have been traipsing around the country for almost three years. This is the group who believe in him so he is quick to correct their human thinking that gets in the way of their perception of just who he is.

I can see him (can you?) walking casually along with the twelve … the mix of who is nearest him changing every few minutes – as the group shifts, they compare notes about what he said to their group with what the others heard. He stops and turns to the group and queries: Who do people say that I am? Was He really in the dark? After all he is God, doesn’t he know everything? Was he simply opening an opportunity for the disciples to express their loyalty to him?

At first, the disciples do not offer their personal feeling. They repeat what they’ve been hearing: some say John, the Baptist (why they’d mix up the cousins, I don’t know), others say Elijah, or one of the prophets. When Jesus continues: “But, you, who do you say that I am?” A pregnant pause … waiting for a brave one to speak up. Heads turn to Peter who seems to be never afraid to offer an opinion. He doesn’t fail them: “You are the Christ, son of the living God.”

Jesus seems quick to caution the disciples: “Don’t tell anyone.” (Doesn’t he know by now that this is a sure-fire way to get the rumors flying?) Does Jesus want us to hold miracles we experience or witness close to our hearts? To be like Mary after the shepherds’ visit – pondering all these happenings in her heart?” Or are we to be like the disciples, quick as Jesus said, don’t tell until after the Son of Man has risen, shouted their Alleluias and spread the Good News?

Our scene in today’s reading, turns from Jesus conversation with the disciples and his followers to what is to come. Peter quakes in his boots conjuring up what Jesus is describing. This is his friend! So, he takes Jesus aside and in shock rebukes him, criticizes the one he has just acknowledged is the Son of God. “No! No you’ve got it wrong …. That can’t happen to you.”

Jesus cautions Peter, and us: “Wait a minute. You are not thinking like God… you’re thinking like a human being.”

With that, Jesus summons the crowd. Did you ever notice the settings that Scripture describes when Jesus speaks to the crowds on the plain, on a hillside or from a boat … and there were thousands of them? No mic, no PA system, no big screen TV … How did he do it? I wonder, did the people really hear his voice or did they hear him in their heart … or was it like the game of Gossip … his words spread rapidly from person to person??? (Just an aside.)

(Back on track) Jesus next lets us know what it will take to continue to be a disciple of His. Three qualities: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me. Easy as one, two three? Not quite.

First: deny your worldly ways, drop your egotistical thinking and self-seeking and cease all the ifs, ands and buts you that raise in opposition to Jesus’ message.

Second: take up your cross. It is fashioned for, personalized for just for you. No two crosses are exactly the same. You know the story of the person who rejected her God-given cross. She asked God to exchange it for another. So, God showed her his treasury of crosses. You know which one she chose …. The very one God knew all along would best fit her shoulders.

Third: This is the good part … follow Jesus. You don’t have to invent the way – Jesus has already cut the path for you. Knock and the door will be opened. Seek and you will find. Listen and you will hear.

So, when at Mass, just after the homily, be ready to answer God in the words of the Creed: Who do YOU say that I am?

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

First Reading Isaiah 50:5-9a Second Reading James 2:14-18Gospel Mark 8:27-35

This weekend the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family and, on Sunday evening, the Vigil of Feast of the Mother of God. So, what does that mean for us as monastics? We came from a family, we still have families and together we live in an intentional family. Our life together as family is guided by the simple, yet profound, guidelines designed by St. Benedict. He was a man of great wisdom, compassion and common sense. We know that after some time of living in various settings with his original Rule, he added advice based on his observation of the interactions between those who chose monastic life. Imagine having to warn his men not to sleep with knives, to wear clean underwear on a trip, for the learned to help those who could not read. His prudence shines through when, in so many words, he says: this is what works for us now – if the schedule of psalmody, the horarium and other daily living details don’t fit your need, change it.

It is the spirit of the Rule that has survived because Benedict, even in his youth, had a deep understanding of human psychology. A study of his early life lets us know he spent much time with his grandparents who lived a few miles from his home. Walking along the ridge to their summer home he passed the huts and caves of hermits. Before he was sent to Rome to pursue academics, he spent hours conversing with these solitary men … maybe women, too. He absorbed the wisdom and practical advice from the older generations. This is evident in the Rule – he tempered discipline with compassion and he saw the spiritual quest as a joyful pursuit of God within the structures of ordinary life. It is this joyous delight in everyday spirituality that kept his Rule for Monastics alive for over 1500 years. His simple principles of living together under God’s love have been applied beyond monasteries to family life and especially Benedictine Oblates.

If we know only the first word of the Rule “LISTEN” what an impact it could make on our own happiness and create peace between peoples. It’s interesting that Benedict uses the word LISTEN and not hear. I don’t know about you, but it is only when I hear a noise in the night that I strain to listen for the next sound. To truly listen to another requires perception, knowledge of human nature, biting the tongue before speaking and an open-hands approach in conversation. To listen requires an attentive spirit … not a scramble to respond with advice, a witty or chiding remark or a one-upmanship story. When we truly listen to another we can identify their feelings, let it resonant within and know that very often all the person wants is a listening heart that signals authentic caring.

Benedict’s Rule offers us a high ideal and when we breach the ideal we need to be humble enough to ask forgiveness both from God and from each other. His down-to-earth advice survives because of its inner dynamic. He wasn’t writing for honors students but for, as one author calls us “a motley crew”. Benedict expected his followers to work hard, study hard and pray hard as they travel along a life-long path of falling down and getting up in a community where each member is valued and loved unconditionally.

From that first word in his Rule – “LISTEN” … to his advice to begin every good work with prayer … to keeping a lamp burning at night … to don’t loiter outside chapel if you are late … it is evident that Benedict saw God at work within the ordinary events of communal living – in the joys and sorrows of our everyday lives.

Tomorrow will be the eve of one year, and the dawning of a new one. We recall with fond memory those who were with us last year and this year celebrated Christmas in the intimacy of heaven – we pray for those who in the coming year will, as the saying goes, enter into glory.

At the close of 2017, I invite you to take count of all the ways you have seen God’s glory – when did THE WORD appear in your life, pierce your heart? As the days go by, keep LISTENING to God speaking to your own heart, and to your comrades’ hungers and longings. It may sound trite to say this, but we do have two ears and one tongue … Maybe God intended us to listen twice as often as we use our words. If we do this we are less likely toot our own horns or miss the other’s silent cue for a little attention. When we cultivate silence and sincere listening we won’t step on others feelings, speak harshly or stir the pot by murmuring or spreading slander or spewing unpleasantness into the air we breathe. Our current world is filled to overflowing with sound, with words, factual and fake. In many instances we do well to ask ourselves if a word is really called for or might silence serve the better part? Remember the instruction you learned at your mother’s knee: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” In the end, our discernment is “what will most likely spread peace?”

As we step out into 2018, a whole new universe of grace lies open before us. May the gift of faith enable us to see the invisible, believe the incredible and graciously receive the impossible … for with God, all things are possible.

Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ Transfiguration reminds me of the story of a young seminarian on summer duty in a parish who walked into the sanctuary of the church and saw Jesus Himself praying at the altar. He alerts the pastor, who alerts the bishop. The bishop tells the pastor that he will have to report this to Pope Francis at the Vatican, and he will call him right back. The phone rings shortly afterward, and the pastor asks what the Pope advised. The bishop replies, “The Pope said — look busy!”

That seems to be Peter’s first impulse at the Transfiguration. The vision is so awesome and powerful an experience that Peter wants to do anything rather than deal with it. He can hardly believe that right here all in one place at the same time he has Jesus, Moses, and Elijah conversing! Rather than embrace the moment and bow low in homage he volunteers to go back down to find materials for tents and to haul them back up to the top of the mountain.

We do this sometimes, don’t we? Our life in the monastery has many blessings, but a distraction-free environment is not one of them. With the intention to spend time in Lectio, we find ourselves being distracted by the impulse to do something useful, anything when we feel the Spirit invading our hearts. Anything from reading more litanies to performing a favor for someone else or cleaning my room. Anything rather than just be and experience that special closeness with God. It’s a weird kind of defense mechanism; we look for ways to avoid that total intimacy with God, even when we think and say that we desire nothing more. From previous experiences we’ve learned that, as CS Lewis writes: “There’s such a thing as getting more than we bargained for!” and that scares us. As Father David put it recently, we need to just Waste time with God.

Peter’s impulse to look for something to do isn’t to say that all work is bad. We are called to do our fair share to support our community and to put our God-given gifts to use. But, at times we substitute busy-ness in our lives to avoid prayer – all the while knowing full well that only through prayer can we be formed in communion with God. We must conquer the temptation to flee in fright when God finds us. There is an old saying that applies here: when the Lord speaks to you, don’t just do something … stand there, or sit there, and follow Benedict’s opening word to his followers: listen.

However we might interpret the impulsiveness of Peter, it is notable that in Matthew’s version of the story (remember he wasn’t there) the voice from heaven actually interrupts Peter, cutting him off in order to pronounce Jesus blessed and then to command the attention of the disciples. Whatever Peter — or we — may have been thinking there is only one thing necessary: to listen to Jesus, the Father’s beloved One.

We can all identify with the apostles because in our mountain-top experiences of joy and consolation we also want to stay. We want them to go on forever. And then in the moments of trial, like the apostles at Jesus’ trial, we want to flee. We tend to forget that our Lord did not promise us a rose garden, but a garden of olives and a crown of thorns. “If anyone will come after me let them pick up their cross daily and follow me.” Having been to the top of the mountain we know that “nothing can separate us from the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus.”

This evening the closing rite will include Carol’s commitment as a resident volunteer. All of us have had mountain top experiences and can testify to their importance in our lives. For Carol, I suspect this may be a mountain-top moment. There is something awe-inspiring about mountains: clean and crisp air and a panoramic view that raises our minds and hearts to God. But all of us know that we have to go back down the mountain, to the valley of our everyday lives. At both places, at the mountain top or in the valley and all those places and times in between, Jesus is there, reaching out to raise us up be our best selves.

At her blessing Carol will be given a copy of our MISSION, VISION, CORPORATE COMMITMENT and CORE VALUES STATEMENT. It seems like a good time to remind ourselves of what we’ve said in these statements, so a copy is here available for you if you’d like one.

When Jesus and the disciples were walking back down the mountain, Jesus charged them not to tell the vision to anyone until he had been raised from the dead. Well, Carol, Jesus has been raised from the dead and ascended to his Father, so you are welcome – and we’d even encourage – to tell the vision to anyone that seems like a suitable candidate to be a volunteer or affiliate with the Benedictine Sisters of Florida.

Last Sunday we heard Jesus’ observation about the contributions being made to the temple treasury and the example of sacrificial giving that he saw in the poor widow’s offering. If we read Mark’s gospel continuously from that incident to yesterday’s Gospel, we also know about Jesus’ prediction about the destruction of the Temple, his teaching about the costs of discipleship, the woes that will accompany the end times and Jesus’ instruction to his disciples about the need for watchfulness so that they will not be caught unprepared for the final judgment.

This past Sunday’s Gospel continues Jesus’ teaching by offering signs to look for that will indicate that the coming of the Son of Man is near. His words and images draw upon Old Testament imagery, especially images found in the Book of Daniel. In the historical context, Jesus is actually describing the coming destruction of the Temple and the ruination of the nation, as both fall under GOD’s judgment at the hands of the Roman Empire.

Next, Jesus says: “Learn a lesson from the fig tree.” The emphasis, of course, is not on what kind of tree – the warning is: WATCH. Jesus could have said citrus trees or olive trees. But, he says “fig trees” and happily for us we have a lot of experience with fig trees that we had right outside our dining room windows at the old monastery. When the branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, we know that another season of fruit is near.

After Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree, He gives several brief parables to show what the response one should have when the signs appear.

We know that Jesus’ words are not spoken to frighten his disciples, nor should they frighten us. The prophetic Word of God is as sure and secure as the rest of His message. They are offered to prepare us for the changes we will experience during our lifetime and at the end time. Our consolation and hope is found in the lasting nature of Jesus’ words and God’s never-ending love for us.

When you see the things happening that Jesus talks about, know that he is near, at the gates. “But,” says Jesus, “of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Then, He assures us: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Or, said still differently, the coming judgment and destruction that Jesus predicts will be the very signs that will vindicate his message.
Let’s drill down a little deeper into one phrase of the text — “of that day or hour no one knows.” We do not know exactly what Jesus in his prophetic ministry would say to us in our moment of history, but we do know that the general thrust would be similar to what he has already said: In the face of struggle, persecution and difficult times, when the tide of public popularity turns against God’s people, I tell you: remain faithful even though you do not know the future, even though you do not know the day or hour of your deliverance.

So, how, as followers of the Jesus, do we prepare? In the face of struggle read the signs of the times. How well do you read signs? Can you train yourself to be more observant of the signs? By personality do you notice signs in nature? Road signs? How well do you read non-verbal body language? Do you work to sensitize yourself to recognize everyday signs? How do you heighten your sensitivity to spirit signs? Do you use Scripture, the Rule, the example of a favorite saint, a confessor or a friend-guide? What helps you to listen more keenly to your heart? In the quiet of the night – when sleep eludes you – or out walking or driving along a familiar road; riding alone in the elevator, climbing the stairs, passing through the hall at a leisurely pace; setting the table, readying yourself for communal prayer in the chapel – do you hear God’s whisper in your heart?

Cultivation of the inner spirit helps prepare us to see the direction of the cultural wind we face, whether agreeable or antagonistic. God does not usually shout to us in fury or in a tumultuous hurricane. Much of the time God speaks softly – so stay tuned. In the face of cultural garbage and shifting government structures or a changing church, we steady ourselves not to be tempted to hoard food and possessions. We guard against the temptation to build a hermitage and hide out. We pray to be strengthened to stay in the fray? Many things will just happen in our lives – things not scheduled by the calendar or our clock or our watches or the bell. With all the scheduled things to do we are called by today’s Gospel to also keep our hearts attuned to the significance things that just happen.

As individuals that form this community I believe we make valiant efforts to sift through all that bombards us and continue to make the choice (our corporate commitment) to meet the needs of the left-out, locked-out and dropped-out?

How can we do this day in and day out and year after year? By heeding Jesus’ directive to the disciples who accompanied Him in the garden the night before his death: stay here, watch and pray. Watch: seek GOD in and about the events of the day asking for GOD’s Wisdom to let us see GOD’s perspective so we discover our moment within our cultural context.

And, pray: clear off space in our lives for GOD. Remember, to pray is not to read books about God, about spirituality or prayer, or to think about those topics. To pray is simply – pray! We don’t even have to start the conversation. Simply let God in and sit in expectant silence, with a listening heart. A disciplined, determined prayer practice, sustains us (individually and as a community) in the battle of our heart’s faithfulness to the LORD.

Let us strive to keep in mind that we are called not so much to DO the Good News – though faith-in-action is important. We are called to BE the Good News – a model of all that is implied when we call ourselves Christian and Benedictine.